Working Families Party seeks to become a rising force in city, state

Michael P. Mayko

Updated 1:00 am, Sunday, September 9, 2012

John Bagley smiles as he hears of his election to the Bridgeport Board of Education at Connecticut Working Families Party headquarters in Bridgeport on Tuesday, September 4, 2012.
Photo: Brian A. Pounds

Connecticut Working Families Party Executive Director Lindsay Farrell, left, shows Bridgeport Board of Education candidate Barbara Pouchet the election results at party headquarters in Bridgeport on Tuesday, September 4, 2012. Pouchet placed fifth in the vote, in which the top four vote getters were elected to the board.
Photo: Brian A. Pounds

Connecticut Working Families Party candidates Barbara Pouchet and John Bagley wait on election results at party headquarters in Bridgeport on Tuesday, September 4, 2012. Bagley placed fourth in the voting, winning a seat on the Bridgeport Board of Education.
Photo: Brian A. Pounds

Bridgeport Board of Education member Tom Mulligan checks in with poll worker Merrilyn Vanghele, left, as he prepares to vote in the Board of Education election at Black Rock School in Bridgeport on Tuesday, September 4, 2012.
Photo: Brian A. Pounds

Joe Kiernan of Bridgeport walks in to vote in the Board of Education election as Dave Moore, also of Bridgeport, passes out literature for Working Families Party candidates at Black Rock School in Bridgeport on Tuesday, September 4, 2012.
Photo: Brian A. Pounds

Jacqueline Kelleher, center, receives hugs from her family after it becomes clear that she has won one of the seats on the Bridgeport Board of Education, during an after election party for the democratic candidates at Testo's Restaurant in Bridgeport, Conn. on Tuesday September 4, 2012. At left is Jacqueline's son Tyler Comeau, at top is her daughter Danielle Comeau, and at right is her father Tom Kelleher.
Photo: Christian Abraham

Jacqueline Kelleher, center, receives hugs from her family after it...

Kenneth Moales, right, and campaign manager Kirk Wesley, celebrate after Moales won one of the seats on the Bridgeport Board of Education, during an after election party for the democratic candidates at Testo's Restaurant in Bridgeport, Conn. on Tuesday September 4, 2012. In back center is candidate Jacqueline Kelleher, who also won a seat.
Photo: Christian Abraham

Candidates Hernan Illingworth, center, Kenneth Moales and Jacqueline Kelleher, react after it has become apparent that they have all won seats on the Bridgeport Board of Education, during an after election party for the democratic candidates at Testo's Restaurant in Bridgeport, Conn. on Tuesday September 4, 2012.
Photo: Christian Abraham

Candidate Jacqueline Kelleher reacts after it has become apparent that she has won a seat on the Bridgeport Board of Education, during an after election party for the democratic candidates at Testo's Restaurant in Bridgeport, Conn. on Tuesday September 4, 2012. At left is Jacqueline's son Tyler and above is her daughter Danielle.
Photo: Christian Abraham

Candidates Hernan Illingworth, left, and Mayor Bill Finch high five after it has become apparent that he has won a seat on the Bridgeport Board of Education, during an after election party for the democratic candidates at Testo's Restaurant in Bridgeport, Conn. on Tuesday September 4, 2012.
Photo: Christian Abraham

Election official Cynthia Morris yawns as she works the polls at Luis Munoz Marin School in Bridgeport, Conn. on Tuesday September 4, 2012. As of 3 p.m. there was a low turnout at the school, in which there were only 57 residents that appeared to vote since 6 a.m.. This is a special election for nine candidates for Bridgeport Board of Education.
Photo: Christian Abraham

Voter Earnestine Moore takes her ballot to the machine to be counted at the polling place at Luis Munoz Marin School in Bridgeport, Conn. on Tuesday September 4, 2012. As of 3 p.m. there was a low turnout at the school, in which there were only 57 residents that appeared to vote since 6 a.m.. This is a special election for nine candidates for Bridgeport Board of Education.
Photo: Christian Abraham

Polls open for election at Luis Munoz Marin School in Bridgeport, Conn. on Tuesday September 4, 2012. As of 3 p.m. there was a low turnout at the school, in which there were only 57 residents that appeared to vote since 6 a.m.. This is a special election for nine candidates for Bridgeport Board of Education.
Photo: Christian Abraham

Voter Veta Cummings puts her ballot into the counter at Luis Munoz Marin School in Bridgeport, Conn. on Tuesday September 4, 2012. As of 3 p.m. there was a low turnout at the school, in which there were only 57 residents that appeared to vote since 6 a.m.. This is a special election for nine candidates for Bridgeport Board of Education.
Photo: Christian Abraham

Moderator Carla Gonzalez works to confirm the names and addresses of two voters, at the polling place at Luis Munoz Marin School in Bridgeport, Conn. on Tuesday September 4, 2012. As of 3 p.m. there was a low turnout at the school, in which there were only 57 residents that appeared to vote since 6 a.m.. This is a special election for nine candidates for Bridgeport Board of Education.
Photo: Christian Abraham

BRIDGEPORT -- It's 7:45 p.m. on Sept. 4. In 15 minutes the polls will close on what could be a historic Board of Education election.

In an office in dire need of renovation on Stratford Avenue, Lindsay Farrell sits at a table, her laptop perched in front of her and a handful of cell phones piled next to her. Her fingers hurriedly dial a number and Farrell tries to convince the voice on the other end to rush to the polls and vote.

Farrell is executive director of the Connecticut Working Families Party, an independent third party better known for cross-endorsing candidates than running their own.

If all goes well, the pair will join Maria Pereira and Sauda Baraka, Working Families Party incumbents who were displaced from the board when it dissolved itself last July and the state stepped in an appointed a board. They were then given their seats back by the state Supreme Court.

The Working Families Party hopes its members on the school board can forge an alliance to wrest a majority voice away from the Democrats.

The party's move to gain power comes at a time when Mayor Bill Finch is supporting a charter change that would give the mayor the power to appoint board of education members in the future.

A win on this night would make the Working Families Party a viable alternative to the Democrats.

A loss could turn it into an after thought -- just another marker in the cemetery of third parties.

WORKING HISTORY

The Working Families Party was born in 1998 in New York through a coalition of organized labor and community action groups like ACORN.

In 2002 it appeared in Connecticut catching voter interest with an agenda of raising the minimum wage, creating green jobs, pushing for affordable health care, advocating for better education and opposing tax breaks to companies shipping jobs overseas.

Eight years later, the party claimed it gained enough power that its cross-endorsement of Dannel P. Malloy, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, helped lead to his victory. The 26,308 votes Malloy received on the Working Families line along with the 540,970 on the Democratic line bested the 560,874 Republican Tom Foley received.

Yet the Working Families Party has only 171 registered voters in Connecticut and just three of those in Bridgeport, according to the Secretary of the State's Office.

"Really? We have that many?" said Farrell, the 32-year-old New Haven resident who in March became the party's executive director. "I think I can name seven."

Even Farrell, herself, is a registered Democrat.

"We don't encourage voters to register with our party," she said. "We prefer they be able to vote in primaries for candidates who support our priorities."

Farrell said her party offers "a viable alternative to party politics and machine politics."

In Hartford, three council members and a Registrar of Voters are Working Families members.

GAINING STRENGTH

By 9 p.m. Farrell has her answer.

Bagley, the retired basketball star, finishes fourth and with it, gains the party's third board seat. Pouchet doesn't win a seat, but he garners more votes than Republican Joe Borges, the retired registrar of voters.

"I can't win as long as I have an `R' (Republican) next to my name," said a dejected Borges. "But if they (Working Families) do things right they could be a real threat to Democratic control here. High ranking Democrats should be afraid of them."

Pereira said the party is gaining strength.

"We have elected three candidates," she pointed out. "The Republicans only elected a Registrar of Voters. We bring a fresh point of view to Bridgeport."

In Bridgeport, the Working Families Party is considered a force by Donald Greenberg, an assistant professor of politics at Fairfield University; a concern to Mario Testa, the Democratic Town chairman and a godsend to the Republicans by Borges, who believes its Democratic leanings could split that party's vote enabling a Republican to sneak in.

Greenberg said the party could pick up more seats by running a full-slate in next year's municipal election.

But to do so, Greenberg advised that the party to expand on its Board of Education success by building a base, choosing a recognizable leader, pinpointing issues and running larger slates.

"Any win from now on is a big plus for them," he said.

And a concern to many Bridgeport Democrats.

"The Democrats made the Working Families what they are by allowing them to cross-endorse its members and build a name," Greenberg said. "They got their percentages up high enough to become a legitimate third party."

Testa agreed "100%."

"I always opposed that cross-endorsement," he said "... I always believed if you are a Democrat, you run as a Democrat and you win or fail as a Democrat."

But John Stafstrom, a former Democratic town chairman, is not convinced the independent party is gaining power.

"They showed some success in an off-season election," said Stafstrom. "I don't think they would do well citywide in a general election."

LOOKING AHEAD

To Farrell, November 2013 is a long way away.

She's focusing on November 2012. That's when the electoral ballot will include a charter revision proposal that if approved by voters would give the mayor the power to appoint the entire school board in the future.

"We don't trust a mayor to make the right decisions," Farrell said.

So she's mobilizing another grassroots effort of knocking doors, calling voters and handing out informational sheets.

Before Election Day, she said she and Bagley knocked on well over 1,000 doors.

All that may be good, but Andrew Fardy, a 40-year Democratic party worker who dropped his affiliation last week, said more has to be done.

While he was impressed with the visits from Working Families' volunteers during the Board of Education election, he suggests they recite a better script, simplify their message, dress more for success than leisure and get the people to the polls.

If they can do that, he said, the "days of the Democrats running Mickey Mouse, Humpty Dumpty and Donald Duck and getting them elected" could be over.